As we cross over the milestone of our 2,112th post, we'd be fools if we didn't use the occasion to look back at the classic 1976 Rush album '2112'.
The album's epic title track was 20:33 in length and occupied the entire first side of the album. Because of that, the album is often mistakenly identified as a concept album.
In fact, that point was just recently debated by VH-1 Classic host Eddie Trunk and his co-hosts on 'That Metal Show.' (As they often do, the hosts agreed to disagree on the subject.)
While there was indeed a concept attached to the title track, the entire second side of songs are unrelated to the storyline laid out by '2112,' technically striking it from true 'concept album' status, but spirited music fans will continue to argue otherwise.
At the time that '2112' was released, the members of Rush were at a crossroads. Their previous album, 1975's 'Caress of Steel,' had contained two lengthy concept-based pieces, 'The Fountain of Lamneth' and 'The Necromancer,' which gave a hint that the band might be planning to stretch out on their next release.
But the record tanked and left the future Canadian musical superheroes feeling like they were under a lot of pressure to deliver with the follow-up. Specifically, the record company was urging Rush that another conceptual release wouldn't be in their best interests.
With the concept storyline already in mind for '2112,' the band members decided to play the odds and move ahead with their plans anyway. Guitarist Alex Lifeson told Classic Rock Magazine that their attitude was unflappable. "We said: 'We're going to make '2112' and if we go down in flames then at least they're our flames!'"
'2112' was a seven part creation devised by Geddy Lee and Lifeson, with drummer Neil Peart writing the words that would provide the story. In Peart's tale, a man faces off against the 'Priests of the Temples of Syrinx' who are in charge of content regulation for all beings. He discovers a guitar but upon sharing his findings with the Priests, his guitar is destroyed.
Going into hiding after the incident, he imagines a life minus the controlling aspects of the Priests. Eventually, our hero can't escape the darkness and commits suicide. Simultaneously, a new battle begins to erupt, culminating in the spoken voiceover "Attention all planets of the Solar Federation: We have assumed control."
(It's not exactly a storybook happy ending for our man.)
The main character is depicted on the back of the album cover. It's the first appearance of the famous 'Starman' logo that became a much-loved symbol who would go on to appear on six additional Rush album covers.
Peart acknowledges the 'genius' of author Ayn Rand on the sleeve notes for '2112,' having borrowed a large part of the structural idea for the plotline from Rand's 'Anthem.' As Classic Rock magazine notes, her 'free-market mania, fanatical opposition to 'collectivism' and literal celebration of selfishness' made Rand someone who was 'definitely not a cool name to drop.' But when have you ever known Rush to be concerned with something like that?
It's interesting to listen to '2112' now and ponder how it would be received as an album in today's musical climate. While there are certainly groups that are issuing concept albums/ tracks and similarly lengthy pieces of music in the present, would Rush's music enjoy the same rabid following that they were able to build as a result of the success in their heyday, or would they have a smaller fringe audience similar to the ones currently following other modern progressive rock groups?
Rush performed the title track in its entirety to delighted concert audiences worldwide during their 1996 tour for 'Test For Echo,' a moment that is preserved on the band's 'Different Stages' live release. It was a tour that was so good, that you almost had the fear that perhaps the band might be preparing to call it quits, because they really left it all out on the stage during that run. Thankfully, Rush soldiers on and they've graced us with a wealth of great music since then.
In fact, Geddy Lee recently told Billboard that there's a fighting chance that they might play the entire '2112' album someday in the future:
"If we were really out of our minds, we would attempt something like [1978's] 'Hemispheres.' If Rush has a cult following, within that cult following there's a following for 'Hemispheres' [laughs]. I'm not sure we're up for that one, but I could see us doing '2112.'"